http://www.climatejusticefast.com/index.php/blog/ en paulrobertconnor@gmail.com Copyright 2010 2010-07-07T17:03:55+00:00 http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/day-44-day-1/ http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/day-44-day-1/#When:15:35:29Z It is good to eat again. But it is even better to feel the sense of accomplishment that comes with the end of the 2009 Climate Justice Fast. There's the sense of personal accomplishment of going 43 days without food. In my case, it ended up being 23 days on water-only and 20 days on liquids. I am sure for those who persevered on water-only for the whole time, Paul, Anna and Sara, as well as those who went lesser but significant numbers of consecutive days on water-only, those feelings must be even stronger. They should be. In Anna's latest post on this blog, she refers to asking people in Copenhagen at the candlelight vigil on the 17th if they were, in essence, going to give up or not because Barack Obama and the leaders of the industrialized countries, those most responsible for our worldwide plight, failed to advance the ball at COP 15. This is really the key question coming out of Copenhagen: are the individuals who, collectively, make up the international grassroots movements going to rededicate themselves, really, truly, to continuing to build our movement, or are they, in essence, going to just go through the motions while feeling defeated? I strongly suspect it's the former, not the latter. All that I experienced from a distance as far as what went on in Copenhagen, all that has happened over the course of the last two months, beginning with the hugely successful October 24th 350.org actions and continuing through to December 12th and then the December 17th international day of fasting--all of this is solid evidence that, yes, the world has reached a political tipping point. Exactly what tactics, exactly what forms of action, will now develop going forward remain to be decided. But I will be resting over the Christmas holiday season secure in the knowledge that a critical mass of activists all over the world will refuse to quit. Our love for our children and grandchildren, born and unborn, our love for those in the climate crosshairs right now, our love for our mother, the earth, are far more powerful, over time, than the hot air of politicians and the ruthless profit-seeking of oil and coal companies and their corporate allies. 2009-12-19T15:35:29+00:00 http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/day-36/ http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/day-36/#When:13:11:55Z I wish I was in Copenhagen. But I'm glad that my sister and brother fasters, and many more allies, are, doing all they can at this potential political tipping point moment.And I'm glad that,all over the world,tomorrow,similar to October 24th,thousands of actions will take placecalling for action now. I'll be at one in my home town ofBloomfield, N.J., USA. It's going to be cold,and since I have no faton my body,having lost 30 pounds so far,and am struggling witha mild head cold,I'm going to have to wearlots of layers. But it will be goodto be acting with peopleall over the worldat this critical time. I count down the daysuntil I can begin to eat. I hang in there. It is easier now, these twelve days on waterfor me,compared to a month agowhen this began and I endured my first two weekson water only. It is easier knowingthat we are having an impactin Copenhagen, following each daywhat is happening there moving toward an end point. We endure,and we suffer,out of hope and lovefor those who experience now,and the many more who face in the future,grinding poverty, starvationand hopelesness if the world's governments,if my government,refuse to do what is necessary. I am at peacegiving all that I can,each day,each hour,each minute,each second. 2009-12-11T13:11:55+00:00 http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/back-onto-water/ http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/back-onto-water/#When:21:27:35Z I'm coming to the end of the 17-day middle phase of my 43-days-or-longer climate justice fast. During this middle phase I've consumed fruit juices and liquid veggie soups. It has been significantly easier than the first two weeks on water-only. If it weren't for the fact that my doing so has allowed me to finish the manuscript of my second book, Love Refuses to Quit: Climate Change and Social Change in the 21st Century, available to read at http://www.tedglick.com/book/html, and do other climate organizing as part of my day job, I'd feel very mixed about if I did the right thing.But on Monday morning I'll be back onto water-only and will continue on it through at least the end of the Copenhagen conference. I know from my experiences on water the first two weeks that it is going to be a daily struggle to keep up my energy, but I also expect the fact that I'm doing this while the conference is taking place, and knowing my compatriots will be inside the conference as visible witnesses of why serious action on climate change is needed, will definitely help my spirit. I do have hopes for Copenhagen, but it's not hopes for a strong agreement by the world's governments, either a legally binding agreement (which looks impossible) or what some have called a "politically binding" agreement, which was described by the head of the African Union as an oxymoron. My hope is that a combination of this fast, thousands of people taking action outside in the streets demonstrating, nonviolent civil disobedience, and firm demands from the countries of the Global South, the developing and formerly colonized countries of the world, in combination with, hopefully, some allies from the governments of the Global North, will bring about something like what happened for the global justice movement as a result of the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle 10 years ago. "Seattle" galvanized a global justice movement that already existed before that WTO meeting but which really took off afterwards. It did so in large part because of the basic justice of what it was against and what it was calling for, and it did so despite the opposition of powerful governments and corporations. It was a situation with many analogies to our situation going into the Copenhagen climate conference. So as I go through each day next week on water, as I continue to send my love and solidarity and best wishes to those who will be in their fifth and sixth and the beginnings of a seventh week on water only, I will also be praying as hard as I can for this kind of result. The world needs to see countries and peoples and movements and organizations from all of the countries of the world standing together for climate justice. We saw it on October 24th, and we need to see it again and again and again. I don't think anyone knows exactly what something like this might look like in Copenhagen as everything unfolds over the next two weeks, but I sure know that it's desperately needed. That's why we are fasting. 2009-12-04T21:27:35+00:00 http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/teds-video-blog-day-15/ http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/teds-video-blog-day-15/#When:17:25:40Z 2009-11-25T17:25:40+00:00 http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/now-on-liquids/ http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/now-on-liquids/#When:15:17:25Z Last evening, after 14 days and 14 nights of water-only, I switched onto juices, broths and liquid soups. It was good to consume something that had some taste. Drinking water, as important as it is, can be a real chore on a water-only fast. I changed the nature of my fast with mixed feelings.I've been on two long water-only fasts, one when I was 22 years old, in 1972, against the war in Vietnam, and the other 20 years later, in 1992, as a way to say that "we need to go another way" during the time of official government celebrations in the USA of Christopher Columbus' "discovery" of the Americas. The 1972 one was for 40 days, the 1992 one was for 42 days. Although my heart pulls me toward doing another one this year, my head tells me it's not possible, for two main reasons. The first is my job which, though it's a job working on the issue of climate change, and even though I'm supported by my boss and my co-workers in this action, does require me to be putting out energy every work day, and I doubt if I'd be able to do it adequately, based on past experiences water-fasting, for too much longer. The other reason is that I'm finishing writing my second book, and that also takes energy. It's about the issues of this fast. The title is "Love Refuses to Quit: Climate Change and Social Change in the 21st Century." I should have it done and up at my website, www.tedglick.com, sometime in December, God willing. But there's also another reason. This is my third long fast in two years. I did a long, combined water-only and liquids fast of 107 days in the fall of 2007, and another one of 32 days this spring, both about the climate issue. Those fasts were hard on my family, particularly my wife and my father. That is also a concern, though not the primary one. So I'm now on liquids, for 17 days, until the climate conference starts in Copenhagen. I'll then go back to water-only for the duration of that conference. I will continue to do all I can to spread the word about this fast and to support those who are staying on water and doing so at least through Copenhagen. Their witness, especially the presence of several of them inside the climate conference, is absolutely right on time. A quote from Frederick Douglass, the great African American anti-slavery leader of the 19th century, is appropriate for what we are doing. He said this in a speech in Canandaigua, N.Y. in 1857: "This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. In the light of these ideas, Negroes will be hunted at the North, and held and flogged at the South so long as they submit to those devilish outrages, and make no resistance, either moral or physical. Men may not get all they pay for in this world; but they must certainly pay for all they get. If we ever get free from the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us, we must pay for their removal. We must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and if needs be, by our lives and the lives of others." Amen. 2009-11-20T15:17:25+00:00 http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/ted-ninth-day/ http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/ted-ninth-day/#When:17:10:50Z This fast--I've done a number of other long ones--has been harder for me. Usually, after the first 4-5 days, my body adjusts, I lose the hunger pangs, I get onto a kind-of spiritual plane, move slowly and do pretty well for at least the next couple of weeks. But this time, though I lost the hunger pangs,I wouldn't say I've been on a spiritual plane so far. More like a hanging-in-there plane.This fast--I've done a number of other long ones--has been harder for me. Usually, after the first 4-5 days, my body adjusts, I lose the hunger pangs, I get onto a kind-of spiritual plane, move slowly and do pretty well for the next few weeks. But this time, though I lost the hunger pangs, I wouldn't say I've been on a spiritual plane so far. More like a hanging-in-there plane. But I haven't forgotten why this action is so important, so I will soldier on. I hope that my sister and brother co-fasters are doing OK. The international reality of this fast is special. It's great to be connected, via the internet and by occasional phone calls, with others around the world. Given the worldwide nature of the crisis we are acting on, it is strengthening to be part of this worldwide effort. A number of times I have thought about or said to other people that the "mind over matter" aspect of a long fast is something to learn from. It's fascinating that my decision to do this, its importance, has meant that I very rarely have a desire for food, and when I do I can quickly overcome that feeling by thinking about why I am not eating. But I have to say, I am looking forward to the opening of the Copenhagen conference on December 7th and the knowledge that several of us will be present and visible to the delegates and press. It will be easier to fast knowing that this is taking place. I pray that these acts of voluntary suffering, and all of the popular mobilization that has been happening and will be happening during Copenhagen, will get through to the hearts and consciences of those who have the power to do the right thing at Copenhagen 2009-11-14T17:10:50+00:00 http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/hungering-for-climate-justice/ http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/hungering-for-climate-justice/#When:13:06:46Z “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” Albert Schweitzer Six months ago I went through a period of depression that was probably the lowest I’ve felt, for a sustained period of time, in forty years. The reason? It was what was happening back in April, May and June in the House of Representatives as they worked to put together comprehensive legislation to address the climate crisis. For two months or more, as it became clear that the legislation was going to be nowhere near what was needed, perhaps even worse than no legislation at all, each day became a struggle to find the energy to keep going. I was in a state of political shock. This was the best possible result from the election of Barack Obama, Henry Waxman’s ascendancy to the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Democratic control of the White House, Senate and House? I could hardly believe it. It didn’t help that, during this time, I organized and participated in a month-long hunger strike with others around the country in an effort to influence what was happening. We might as well have gone on a hunger binge, deliberately overeating, for all the good that it seemed to do. But at least one positive thing did happen during that hunger strike when we were contacted by young people from Australia who were beginning to organize for a serious “climate justice fast” in connection with the December 7-18 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since that initial contact, I’ve become progressively more involved with Anna Keenan, Paul Connor and all of the others who have made the Climate Justice Fast a worldwide reality, beginning yesterday. In the process, I’ve had my spirit and my hope for the future renewed. It has been truly wonderful to be supportive of the leadership that the young people of this initiative are giving for the climate movement, indeed, for the world. And so I’m now on my second day of what will be a hunger strike of at least six weeks. Mine will be sometimes on water-only, sometimes on juices and broths. A core group of fasters are planning to consume only water over this 42 days or longer period of time. I think back to some of the discussions on the international conference calls over the past several months, the comments made by people about their willingness to risk their lives for this most urgent of causes. And I remember the words of Rev. Daniel Berrigan during the Vietnam War about the need for peace activists to be willing to take risks and make sacrifices for peace similar to, if different than, the risks and sacrifices made by soldiers during war. We will not be able to overcome the power of Big Oil, King Coal, other corporate interests allied with them and subservient elected officials without the taking of risks, over and over again. In the words of Frederick Douglas, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those they oppress.” This action is coming at just the right time. It has begun two weeks after the inspiring worldwide actions organized by 350.org, one month before the opening of the Copenhagen climate conference and five weeks before the next big day of international climate action on December 12th on the Saturday in the middle of that two week long conference. It is completely clear that, absent a political uprising on the part of large numbers of people leading up to and during Copenhagen, very little is going to be accomplished there. The negotiations leading up to it have been so bad, the industrialized countries, led by the U.S., have been so recalcitrant, so unwilling to get serious about the actions needed if we’re to avoid catastrophic climate disruption, that there was an organized walkout by the African countries this week at pre-Copenhagen negotiations in Barcelona, Spain. Indeed, this may be a precursor to what happens in Copenhagen. Rather than the successful adoption of a stronger treaty than the Kyoto Protocol, we could see something very different. The huge gaps between rhetoric and action, between the countries of the Global North and the countries of the Global South, could lead to a failure of these talks. In the words of Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists, “if industrialized countries don’t start putting their climate finance cards on the table soon, there’s not going to be a card game in Copenhagen.” Perhaps this is what is needed for forward progress. Perhaps an international political crisis will lead to a new set of alliances, a new political dynamic, among nations and movements which get it on the urgency of the crisis that leads to serious political pressure from below. These pressures may force the Obama Administration and others to act as if “yes, we can” was more than a 2008 campaign slogan. For the growing community of climate justice fasters around the world, we will be doing all that we can, yes, every day, every hour, to advance the worldwide clean energy revolution at this critical historical moment. We pray that others, including government leaders, will find the courage to do the same. Ted Glick is the Policy Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. More information, including past writings, can be found at http://www.tedglick.com. 2009-11-08T13:06:46+00:00